Boys' Water Polo Brings Home New England Championship

Record: 14-5 (NE Champions) Boys’ water polo earned redemption for the disappointingending to their 2011 season by bringing homethe New England Championship in 2012. After falling in the final hurdle last year againstDeerfield in the Liquid Four Championship game, BearPolo finished this year with an impressive 14-5 recordunder the strong command of senior co-captains KurtPianka, John Moon and Max Drach. The team welcomedseven new players this year, including two preps. “As a prep never having played water polo before,I was extremely nervous joining the varsity squad,”Will Belmont ‘16 said. “Within the first week, though,my fears were silenced by the inviting captains.” Theteam also welcomed Andrew McTammany as the newassistant varsity coach and JV head coach. After only a week and a half of practice, Bear Polostarted their season strong with three consecutive wins.Bear Polo drove down to Suffield Academy to play theirfirst two games. Exeter warmed up with a 14-5 winagainst Suffield and then proceeded to pummel Hotchkissminutes later with a 15-2 win. Andover arrived atExeter’s doorstep hoping to hand their rivals their firstloss of the season, but the boys sent Big Blue homewith a 9-4 defeat. “Our early games really showed usour potential as we rolled through Suffield, Hotchkiss,and Andover off the bat,” Pianka said. The team then travelled to Deerfield to play threegames in a competitive tournament. First, they playedHopkins, blowing them away 13-3. In their next game,however, Big Red fell short against Brunswick, sufferinga close 5-9 loss. The Brunswick game put the boys inan unfamiliar situation, as the 2011 team did not suffera single regular season loss. “The feeling was new tous,” senior Jack Larkin admitted, “but in the end, it wasa good thing to know that we weren’t untouchable thisearly in the season, because it showed us that we hadsome weaknesses that we really needed to work on.” The team quickly rebounded in the final game ofthe tournament, however, as Exeter prevailed over Williston,12-4. Before moving on to the next tournamentat Greenwich, Exeter edged Choate in an extremelycompetitive game that went to overtime, which wassandwiched between two easy victories against St.John’s. Against Choate, Exeter battled back and forth forthe upper hand, and Bear Polo found themselves downin the dying seconds of the game. A clutch five-meterpenalty shot conversion from upper Nick duPont sentthe game into overtime, and Exeter emerged victoriousin a nail-biting encounter. “We once again executed on defense when it matteredmost, with [senior] Finn Meeks shutting downChoate’s very talented primary shooter for most of thegame,” Pianka said. “The Choate game was simultaneouslya confidence boost and further motivation tokeep working hard: we had delivered in a high-pressuresituation, but we also knew we were capable of more.” At Greenwich, Exeter played challenging gamesagainst some very talented teams. Although playerssaw room for improvement, they were impressed by thestrong team effort. In the first matchup, Exeter lost toGreenwich 6-13 and Gonzaga 5-9. Against Lawrenceville,Exeter won 16-8, and carried the momentum intoa well-played rematch against Greenwich, when theylost by only two points in a competitive, 7-9, contest.Although Exeter lost some games, Drach and Meeksjoined the ranks of the all-tournament team after showingoff their defensive talent throughout the games. The next game was against Deerfield, who hashistorically been one of the stronger teams in NewEngland, but Big Red triumphed over Big Green with adominant 13-3 win. Many players considered this gameto be one of the biggest highlights of the season. Thethree captains played particularly well, combining forseven goals and fifteen saves. Exeter triumphed againthe next week, defeating Loomis Chaffee 10-5. The boys then travelled to Andover, hoping tosweep their two game set against Exeter’s archrivals.Bear Polo went into the game confident that they wouldwin, and everybody stepped up their game to blow pastBig Blue. Drach continued his amazing play in goalfrom the Deerfield game, and the final score was 13-8.Next, Exeter played an exhibition game against BostonMetro, a team of experienced adults that is always agood challenge before the Liquid Four tournament.The visitors prevailed 4-7 after a tough and competitivegame that helped Exeter by exposing flaws in the team’sgame in a non-competitive environment. For a week, Exeter prepared for Interschols, whichthey hosted at the Roger A. Nekton Championship Pool.The four schools involved were Brunswick, Choate,Deerfield and Exeter. The first game was between thefirst seed (Exeter) and the fourth (Brunswick). Eventhough Brunswick was the only team that prevailedover Big Red in the regular season, the boys went intothe game much improved from the start of the seasonand raring to go. Exeter gained an early lead, eventuallywinning 6-2 after what Meeks called a “defensivestruggle.” In the next game, Choate progressed into thefinal after defeating Deerfield 8-3. This set up a rematch between Big Red and Choate,and the boys were keen not to relive their ridiculouslyclose tilt with their opponents earlier that season. “Afterwatching Choate beat Deerfield in their semifinalmatchup, Coach Mills had us watch our regular seasongame against Choate on film again to prepare a gameplan for the championship game,” Pianka said. “Weknew Choate was a tough, talented team, but we feltas prepared as possible and were ready and fired upto play.” Big Red started the championship game strong,racing to a 3-0 lead, but Choate fought back to trimExeter’s lead to one goal by the second quarter. Fromprior experience, the boys knew that Choate was capableof going on a hot streak,despite it only beingthe second quarter and that the next few minutes werecrucial. Big Red stepped up to the challenge, and Meeksshowed why he was one of the best defenders in NewEngland, shutting Choate’s best shooter down.  Drachmade multiple key saves, and upper JB Baker slammedhome his third goal of the game. Meeks also hit the backof the net, and Big Red went into halftime with a 5-2 lead,squashing the Choate rally. “The halftime lead gave us a ton of confidence headinginto the second half,” Pianka said. After overcomingChoate’s early fightback, the boys never looked back,cruising to a 11-4 victory and finally clinching the elusiveNew England Championship: Exeter’s first since 2006. Big Red’s championship season was built around stellardefence and incredible goaltending from Drach, whoestablished himself as the top goalie in New England.Although he was always a standout ‘keeper, Drach’sdevelopment was greatly aided by the arrival of CoachMcTammany, who played goalie for John’s Hopkins aftergraduating from Exeter. “I think McT really helped Maxbecome a dominating goalie by giving him strong confidencein his ability. Max played great because he knew that he couldstop any offense in the league,” Meeks said. Drach’s dominancebecame infectious in the team. “He gave us the confidence toplay aggressive defense, knowing that Max would be backing usup,” Meeks said. “Max is a magnificent player. It’s no wonder he got the MVP,”upper Angus Gorman said. “There will be a 6’7” hole in the goalnext season, and we’re all going to have to try to fill it.” Gormanwill be tasked with filling said hole in the 2013 season, as Big Redpreps for their title defense. The boys now look forward to the new season after makingunforgettable memories in the fall of 2012. For the seniors, it was aperfect way to cap off their decorated Exeter careers. “The 2012 Boys’ Varsity Water Polo Team is a special group ofpeople who I am proud to be part of,” Pianka said. “We worked hard,played together, and earned every bit of the title: New EnglandChampions.”